Should a DNA test be automatic in paternity cases?

﻿Texas has a new law to help men who believe they aren’t the father of a child, and shouldn’t be forced to pay child support, challenge paternity. Before Senate Bill 785 became law in May, men could seek a DNA test before they were legally named the father of a child. However, once a judge named a man the father, he couldn’t contest it. The new law, unanimously passed in both the House and the Senate, allows a man to legally challenge paternity up to one year after being named a child’s father.

Should a DNA test be automatic in paternity cases?

Yes. It is the only guaranteed way to determine paternity.

No. We will clog our courts with men who fathered a child and want to play out shenanigans seen on the Maury Povich show.